Programmed cell death (PCD) is a physiological process commonly defined by alterations in nuclear morphology (apoptosis) and/or characteristic stepwise degradation of chromosomal DNA occurring before cytolysis. However, determined characteristics of PCD such as loss in mitochondrial reductase activity or cytolysis can be induced in enucleated cells, indicating cytoplasmic PCD control. Here we r...

Autophagy has been implicated as a prosurvival mechanism to restrict programmed cell death (PCD) associated with the pathogen-triggered hypersensitive response (HR) during plant innate immunity. This model is based on the observation that HR lesions spread in plants with reduced autophagy gene expression. Here, we examined receptor-mediated HR PCD responses in autophagy-deficient Arabidopsis kn...

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a functional concept that refers to cell death that is part of the normal life of a multicellular organism; it involves controlled disassembly of the cell. In animal systems PCD is synonymous with apoptosis, a cell death process characterized by a distinct set of morphological and biochemical features, mediated by a class of specific Cys proteases called cysteinyl...

Cell death is a highly regulated process that is ubiquitous in all eukaryotes. Programmed cell death (PCD) is an integral part of both animal and plant development. Studies on apoptosis, the well characterized form of programmed cell death led to the identification of a central tripartite death switch i.e. apoptosome consisting of Apaf-1, Apaf-2 and Apaf-3. The caspases, a family of cysteine-de...

Cell death is a vital process for multicellular organisms. Programmed cell death (PCD) functions in a variety of processes including growth, development, and immune responses for homeostasis maintenance. In particular, plants and animals utilize PCD to control pathogen invasion and infected cell populations. Despite some similarity, there are a number of key differences between how these organi...

Apoptosis or programmed cell death (PCD) is an active, energy-dependent process of cell death which occurs during development, in response to certain physiologic stimuli, and secondary to cell injury and stress (reviewed by Wyllie et al. 1980, Arends & Wyllie 1991, Ellis et al. 1991, Wyllie 1992). This type of cell death occurs via controlled deletion of discrete cells within a tissue and plays...

Programmed cell death (PCD) pathways are genetically programmed mechanisms that can trigger the cell to die or commit “cell suicide”. There are three major forms of pro‐ grammed cell death that are now recognized: apoptosis (type I), autophagy (type II) and necrotic cell death or necroptosis (type III). While these cell death processes were once thought to occupy discrete cell states, evidence ...

Mammalian apoptosis and yeast programmed cell death (PCD) share a variety of features including reactive oxygen species production, protease activity and a major role played by mitochondria. In view of this, and of the distinctive characteristics differentiating yeast and multicellular organism PCD, the mitochondrial contribution to cell death in the genetically tractable yeast Saccharomyces ce...

A plethora of diverse programmed cell death (PCD) processes has been described in living organisms. In animals and plants, different forms of PCD play crucial roles in development, immunity, and responses to the environment. While the molecular control of some animal PCD forms such as apoptosis is known in great detail, we still know comparatively little about the regulation of the diverse type...

In a stroke lesion, there is a core of necrotic cell death surrounded by a zone of tissue at risk, termed the penumbra. In the penumbra, there is usually less severe tissue damage. Programmed cell death (PCD) pathways have been documented to be present in the penumbra. While many studies have used the term apoptosis as equivalent to PCD, the absence of complete biochemical and morphological cha...